“You must have heard about what happened at Friendsgiving,” Slade said. “Ruby told everyone you’re the onebehind the secret investments. I figure you’re also the reason the Iron Spur has a deal with the new barbecue restaurant.”
Kingston sounded uncomfortable at the acknowledgment. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Maybe not to you, but it is to me. What you’ve done… it’s made a huge difference, and I wanted to say thank you. If I can ever repay the favor, anything you need, all you have to do is ask.”
“You don’t have to thank me and you sure as hell don’t owe me anything,” Kingston said. He was going to have to get used to it, though. Now that everyone knew he was responsible for so much, they were going to want to recognize him.
“The least I can do is plow your drive while I’m out this way. I saw you’ve got an SUV in a snowbank at the end. Won’t take me any time at all to pull it out with the winch I’ve got on my truck.”
My pulse jumped. That was my SUV he was talking about. He’d probably recognize it as soon as he pulled it out of the snow. I wasn’t ready for people to know I was here or that Kingston and I had reconnected. Not when I hadn’t made sense of it myself.
“That’s not necessary.” Footsteps moved toward the door. “I’m headed out in a bit and can do it myself.”
“Sure looks a lot like Scarlett Monroe’s vehicle,” Slade said.
“She came up here to confront me after Ruby outed me.”
Slade grunted. “You two used to be close. People remember.”
Kingston must have nodded or something, because Slade continued.
“You sure this is a good idea? Reopening that door?”
Kingston didn’t answer right away. I waited, my heart pounding so hard it rattled my ribs. “No,” he said finally. “It’s probably not a good idea.”
A sharp, stupid pain sliced through me.
“But,” he added, “it’s the only one I’ve got.”
I left the door cracked open retreated back to the bed, my emotions tangled and raw. What did that mean? That he didn’t think we could make it, but he wanted to try? That he knew the risks and didn’t care? Part of me wanted to throw the door open and demand answers. The other part of me wanted to wait. To see if he’d come back in and tell me everything without me having to ask.
The problem was, I didn’t know which version of Kingston Raines would walk through that door… the man who pushed me away, or the one who made love to me like I was the only thing anchoring him to this world.
The storm had passed. But something bigger was just beginning. If we weren’t careful, we were going to get caught in it all over again.
CHAPTER 6
KINGSTON
The cabin was quiet again,but nothing about it felt calm. Slade’s truck rumbled down the drive and disappeared into a cloud of white, leaving behind a silence that pressed in from every direction. I stood by the front door, one hand still braced on the frame like I needed help staying upright.
Scarlett was in my bed. Still. Last night felt like both a miracle and a mistake, like something I’d dreamed and something I’d never forget. The feel of her body under mine, the way she’d touched me like she still knew me, still wanted me, still felt something besides anger. I couldn’t stop replaying it, couldn’t stop feeling it in my skin, in my chest.
But that knock on the door had shifted everything. Slade brought reality crashing back in with him. I’d spent years building a life that could survive in the shadows. Now the shadows were gone, and I wasn’t ready for it.
I ran a hand over my beard and moved down the hall. The bedroom door was cracked open enough that I caught a glimpse of her curled under the quilt, her dark hair spilling over my pillow. She’d heard everything. I knew it in my gut.
I knocked once before pushing the door open. “Scarlett?”
She shifted and slowly sat up. Her eyes were guarded, her body tense. “Did he leave?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
She tucked her knees to her chest, the quilt still wrapped around her like a barrier. “That was Slade Kincaid, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. I helped Ruby make a deal with him a while back to supply the beef for the new barbecue place in town.”
Her brows lifted. “You’ve been busy.”
